You can buy all of the gear from Sweden. Röda stjärnan . I have all and plus the bivi. Excellent in Swedish winter I have bin out in - 25 in it and just a tarp. Np. But you need the liggunderlag German military it's a padded ground prof layer. And a Tip put your he'd outside the bag whit a Balaklava and a cap on the head. So U don't get cold Draft in wen u move and moist from you breath.
Vertex outdoors is a U.S.A. rebranded of the same thing for even cheaper they call them "the Arizona" that's the troper "the Montana" that's the defence 4 and "the Alaska" that's the defence 6 the price at 99 120 and 130 respectively
I saw your comment and went to Vertex and eventually bought the Montana which is equivalent to the Defence 4 by carinthia. I already had the Defence 1 bag, the grizzly, and additional compression bags, so I know a bit about carinthia products. What I found was that both the carinthia bags and the Vertex bags are made by the same european manufacturer. Tags, stitching, shell, insulation (G4), zippers, compression bags, all are identical between Carinthia and Xertex. Vertex has one BIG advantage over carinthia, you can purchase an XL sized bag so you can stuff additional clothing and your boots at the bottom of the bag. That's a big deal when it's really cold. The prices are also VERY reasonable. Bonus: when you call or email Vertex they respond immediately! I just purchased the vertex Arizona bag (summer bag, identical to the carinthia tropen bag) and it comes today. Can't wait to check it out.
@@rusty9045 awesome, it's definitely the real thing. Im geting the other 2 when spring breaks I got the alaska I'm glad someone found my post useful enjoy
Browning used to, maybe still does, sell rebrands of Carinthia as well in years gone by. Maybe this is the reason that this vendor has stopped shipping Carinthia products to the USA?
Hi, Good video. Well researched. I have Carinthia gear too. I can recomend it. You can also get this Def 4 bags from surplus here in Europe. Regards Torsten
You cannot buy these bags through european vendors anymore. Carinthia has cracked down because someone here in the USA has the license to sell carinthia gear and someone here in the USA doesn't want us to be able to buy Carinthian products from european vendors. The problem is that the american vendors sell very little Carinthian gear. The only one I know of only sells two of their sleeping bags. So, we are all screwed unless we use ebay.
Wow. I just had to try it and your right, varustelka won't ship these bags to the US anymore. Someone mentioned vertex outdoors in the comments, and they do look like the same bags rebranded. Though I can't verify if they really are, or just a cheap knockoff. It would make more sense that Eberlestock is probably involved since they charge an assload more for the same bag. If that's the case, they probably hated this video more then I thought, but it's hard to believe they'd go out of their way because of some video posted by some noname dipshit on youtube.
Found Vertex. Their sleeping bags certainly resemble three of carinthia's most popular bags, but the zipper on the summer bag does not appear to be the same zipper I have on my summer bag. Vertex does not identify the insulation but it is a form of polyester. There is also no mention of carinthia on the bags but they certainly look like their bags. The prices are also better than I've seen anywhere else. Thanks for mentioning vertex.
@@rusty9045 Yeah I'm not sure about vertex. If the bags are legit, then it's a gem. Otherwise it's a scam. Not sure which. In any event, it's got my hackles up that Eberlestock is most likely involved in this, and are forcing us to buy their bags at their super high mark up. That kind of a markup, is a rip off.
@@MiddleOutdoorsman I had an email exchange with vertex. They are just starting out and plan to also offer gear like jackets and pants. I mentioned that carinthia makes a shit load of other gear and some of it is really pricey but really nice. And, I was hoping vertex would some how make it all available for US customers. I didn't talk price and I realize that their pricing appears rather low but you have to remember carinthia bags are generally not high priced even when you buy and ship them from Europe. Costs for their other gear is just the opposite. It's expensive but darn nice stuff. Because their selling price is not high I'm going to do business with them and order their winter bag which I really want bad. I'll let you know what I find out.
When to start using the Defense 4 by itself is really subjective to the individual in how hot or how cold you sleep. For me, if I remember correctly, early October was too warm. I ended up unzipping the bag, and using it as a blanket, hanging a leg out. Or I deliberately sought a cold sink where it was colder at night. Crazy I know. Later on, in Nov and December, i was well off.
